Agreement on new plan Rotterdam Central Station

The existing building of Rotterdam Central Station will not be demolished in the new plans, but will be integrated in the new buildings. The parties involved would like the new Rotterdam Central Station and its direct surroundings to be delivered in 2010.

The new plan, which have been the subject of studies for months now, involves half of the amount of money than the plan which was presented by William Alsop in 2--1. The parties now refer to this plan as a 'useful reference'. With a total estimated budget of Ã¢âÂ¬ 875 million this plan proved to be too ambitious.Pedestrians will get priority over other traffic forms in the new spatial plan.
In June the new sketchdesign for the area will be presented. This will contain a broadening of the current passengertunnel under the railtracks from 8 to 30 meter. To the southside the tunnel will even reach 40 meters width.
The stationterminal will be enlarged to the Weena area, to improve the connection with the city center. Other measurements will be taken to improve the flow of traffic in front of the station for cars, trams and pedestrians.

Growth
The new buildings are necessary for the cramped Central Station, because it is not calculated for the expected growth in passengers. The number of passengers has been calculated from the present number of 40 million per year to rise annually to a total of 75 million in the year 2025. This because of the arrival of the high speed train and RandstadRail, a lightrailconnection between Rotterdam and The Hague. The formation of the plans have been under pressure lately as the activities for the RandstadRail will soon begin on the westside of the station. It is proposed that from early 2005 the lenghty activities will start on the Stationssquare.
According to hte agreement which was achieved last week by the involved partis, the ministries of Verkeer en Waterstaat (Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management) and VROM (Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment) will each take part in the project for 154 million and 55 million respectively. The Cityregion will pay 100 million as well as the City Rotterdam. In September a decision will be taken with regard to the architect. Reaky next year the next designphase will be ready.